Tag Archives: jen Darby

When Oliver passed away we knew we wanted to do something to give back to those who’d helped us on our journey. In March, super Nanny, aka Paul’s mum, completed an abseil off Fort Dunlop building in Birmingham and raised over £2500 for ward 8 at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

We decided we would fundraise for Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham as they’d provided us a second home, where we could be less than 5 minutes walk from Oliver and where we could stay as a family. It costs RMHC £25 to house a family each night, so in staying there almost 8 months it was the least we could do try and give back to this amazing place that never asks families for a penny.
£5000 was the target and we thought we’d never achieve it, but with donations from friends, family and work colleagues we made it! One of the kindest acts, was by Jen Darby who was a student nurse during Oliver’s stay on ward 8. Jen had grown fond of Oliver and to help decided to run the Nottingham half marathon to help raise funds. Jen’s not shy to admit she doesn’t enjoy running, but in doing so helped raise around £700.

So today, we returned to the house for the first time since emotionally packing up our car with everything we’d accumulated over an 8 month stay and headed home for the last time in March.

We officially opened Billesley room on the 2nd floor, where Ella proudly cut the ribbon. We were also presented with a keepsake plaque to take home.
Thanks to generous colleagues at Arqiva, we also donated lots of household goods to help the house such as dry food and cleaning products.

So next time you’re in McDonald’s and you see the collection boxes on the tills, that’s what they’re for…to help families stay close to their sick children in hospital…so please give generously.

If you’d like to donate to Ronald McDonald House Birmingham you can still do so via Oliver’s page here